Who Were The Boskops And Were They Really Smarter Than Us?

These hominids — a now-extinct race of humans found in South Africa — had big eyes, child-like faces and an average intelligence of around 150, making them geniuses among Homo sapiens.

By Gary Lynch and Richard Granger
Oct 31, 2022 8:00 PMOct 31, 2022 7:27 PM
Hominid Skulls - Shutterstock
(Image: Petr Student/Shutterstock)

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This article was originally published on December 28, 2009.


The following text is an excerpt from the book Big Brain by Gary Lynch and Richard Granger, and it represents their own theory about the Boskops. The theory is a controversial one; see, for instance, paleoanthropologist John Hawks' much different take.


In the autumn of 1913, two farmers were arguing about hominid skull fragments they had uncovered while digging a drainage ditch. The location was Boskop, a small town about 200 miles inland from the east coast of South Africa.

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